The First Dragon Rider
by AMMACD97
Summary: The Vikings and the Scots have reached an agreement. Merida must choose one of the Viking sons to marry, or her husband will be chosen for her. She thinks she's going to like none of them, but what happens when she meets the vikings?
1. Chapter 1

The Scots have agreed to let the Vikings bring their sons in hopes of creating an alliance by marriage. Will Merida be able to choose a husband, or will history be repeated?

No ones POV

Merida sat at her window, staring at the road leading to the castle. She had one elbow on the window sill, supporting her head, the other in her lap holding a sewing pattern that she was supposed to be working on. She watched the road, waiting for the arrival of the new suitors. She didn't want to married, and like the last time, she and her mother had argued for weeks about the arrangement. But her mother was determined for her daughter to get married, and when her mother decided on something, there was no arguing.

Merida was deep in thought, and didn't notice her mother, Queen Elinor, walk in. Her mother was tall, slender, and beautiful. She walked with confidence, and grace, and she never did anything that she deemed, 'unladylike.' She watched her daughter for a moment, Merida was a very pretty young woman, but the queen worried if her future husband would be able to deal with her spirit.

"Merida?" She called out softly.

Merida jumped to her feet, knocking over the stool she had been sitting on, startled by the sudden interruption to her thoughts.

"Mum! How long have he been standing there?" She asked, she hated it when people watched her, she felt more vulnerable that way.

"Not long," her mother replied, "Ah came to see how yer sewing was  
>coming."<p>

Merida looked down at the cloth in her hands. "Ah have been a little distracted," she looked up at her mother nervously.

Her mother stepped forward and took the cloth, carefully examining the few sloppy stitches. She gave a slight frown, "it's a bit sloppy, but yer coming along."

The two stood in silence for a few moments, looking at each other.

"Well," her mother sighed, "it's time to put yer dress on.

"Aw, mum! They ain't even here yet!" She complained.

"Ay, but I would like to go over some things while yer in the dress." She said, "and I need to make sure it still fits."

"I tried it on just a few weeks ago! And you've double my lessons fer the last week an' a half!" Merida said as she angrily plopped onto the bed.

The queen gave her daughter a disapproving look and crossed to Merida's wardrobe. She preceded to pull out beautiful, purple dress, that had gold seems around the bottom and the sleeves.

"Come on Merida, I am NOT going to fight you on this." The queen had obviously been through this routine many times before.

Merida mumbled, but consented to letting her mother stuff her into the fitted dress. The dress was very flattering on the young girl, but she obviously felt much more comfortable in her usual loose, dark green dress.

Meanwhile

Hiccups POV

After being on the road for so long, Hiccup was getting tired of listening to his father talking.

"When you meet the princess, make sure you smile, and don't say anything that will offend the king or queen, or the Scots," Stoick rambled.

Hiccup had stopped listening hours ago, but his father hadn't seemed to notice. He tried, once again, to reposition himself on the horse he was riding. He still didn't understand why he couldn't ride Toothless. He looked up to see the dark shape of his dragon in between the clouds. His father had told him that he only wanted to bring toothless, and with all their supplies it would take more than one dragon. Hiccup didn't believe that story though. He guessed that his father was afraid that the Scots wouldn't like the dragons.

"HICCUP!" His father yelled.

"Huh? What?" He said, startled.

"Have you been listening to me at all? I asked you a question!" He said, obviously very irritated.

"Um, no," he replied sheepishly, "it's just, you've already told me all of this! I'm 21 years old, I can conduct myself in front of other people!"

"Alright, alright, I know, but I want to make a good impression, considering the history we have with these people." His father said.

"We'll be fine dad," he laughed a bit at his dad nervousness, "I don't think I've seen you so nervous about meeting people."

"This marriage could mean peace between us and the Scots! Of course I'm nervous!" He replied.

Hiccup smiled, "I was joking dad!"

Stoick smiled and laughed at himself, before turning his attention in front of them. "I think we are almost there, about 3 miles I would say."

Hiccup smiled, he couldn't wait to get back on Toothless.

Merida's POV

Merida stood in the throne room, waiting for her mother to get back with her father. She fiddled with her sleeve, nervous for the arrival of her suitors. Her three younger brothers were being wrangled up by some of the servants, but Merida doubted they would be here for the introduction of the suitors.

"I found yer father, and it seems that yer brothers are causing a bit of trouble, so ah don't think they will be joining us," The queen said as she entered the room.

Merida sighed as she watched her mother, closely followed by her father, walk to the door that led to the courtyard.

As she opened the door, the queen looked back at her daughter. "Ah know you don't like this, but it could mean peace between us and the Vikings."

Merida have her mother a slight nod.  
>As much as she didn't want to get married, she was a princess, and it was her duty to do what was right for her people. As soon as the door closed behind her parents Merida began to pace back in forth in front of the wooden chairs that served as the thrones. Her fathers throne was large, tall, and intricately carved with traditional Celtic designs all around the rims, base, and armrests. The two thrones on either side were the same size as each other, but shorter than the middle throne, and not nearly as decorative. Merida sat down in her seat and leaned back. Her foot tapped the floor in front of her impatiently. All she could think about was the near future, hoping that whomever she chose would not stop her from the things she loves.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Queen Elinor's POV

Elinor stood next to her husband in the courtyard, patiently waiting for the first of the suitors to arrive.

"How slow do these people travel? they should have been here by now!" King Fergus complained.

"Ah don' know, but give them some time, they will be here soon," Elinor laughed a little at her husband.

"They said noon," he grumbled, "ah'm hungry!"

"yer always hungry, you can wait," she replied.

Just then, they saw a group of people at bottom of the hill leading to the castle. As they climbed the hill, Elinor noticed that the group of 40 or so people were very rowdy. She sighed, did they have to be so loud? She knew that the next few weeks were going to be long.

Fergus and Elinor approached the group with smiles on their faces as they entered the courtyard. A rather large man stepped forward, "I am Mogadon, chief of the Meathead Tribe." he shook Fergus's hand, and bowed to the Queen.

Elinor Smiled, "If you will follow me, we can show you to the throne room." She turned, and walked through the door they had exited earlier. She frowned when her daughter was nowhere to be seen, but turned and directed the group to the left side of the room. her husband was talking loudly with the chief, and seemed to be getting along with him perfectly.

"Fergus," she said loudly, "lets go meet our other guests." He started toward the door, and Elinor turned to a maidservant standing in the corner. "Go find Merida," she said softly, "and wait with her in the hall until I come get her." After the maid servant exited the throne room, Elinor swiftly returned to her husbands side in the courtyard.

Merida's POV

Though she knew she was supposed to stay in the throne room, Merida wanted to see the arrival of the vikings. She was amazed at how similar the vikings were to the scots, drinking, laughing, and telling jokes on their long journeys. They were large in stature, like many of the Scots, though they seemed less refined. She noticed many women in the group of vikings, and they all wore clothing one would think to see on men, and acted just as rowdy as the men. She was watching the arrivals through one of the servant tunnels running throughout the castle. This particular one faced the courtyard, and had a small window that wasn't easy to spot from the outside because of its location. She heard her name being called from outside the tunnel. She recognized the voice, it was the maidservant, Beitris. they spoke often when Merida didn't have any more lessons to do. Merida moved out from behind the curtain that hid the entrance to the tunnel.  
>"ah'm in here Beitris, ah can see the courtyard from the widow in here," she said, beckoning the young girl to follow her.<p>

"Princess you shouldn't be in the servant tunnels!" the girl said, following Merida into the tunnel.

"ah know, but my mum said ah couldn't stand in the courtyard with them to meet the vikings," she sighed.

"well, yer mum told me to wait with you in the hall until she came to get you," Beitris said, "come on, you'll meet them soon enough."

Reluctantly, Merida moved away from the window and into the hall, not wanting to get Beitris in trouble.

Hiccup's POV

Hiccup stared at the road ahead of him, once again thinking of the conversation that he often thought about.

"I don't understand you Hiccup!" a young girl exclaimed. "You almost never listen to me anymore, and you have pushed me away for months now!"

"What do you mean?" He replied, "we talk all the time, and I listen to you!"

"No you don't!" She said, obviously angry. "And I have tried for so long to get you to open up to me, but you won't tell me what's wrong! You've been so distant lately, I'm done with trying!"

She turned and stormed out the door. Hiccup had kicked himself so many times for not yelling out her name, and stopping her from leaving. How hard was it? All he had to do was say her name, and they would still be together. But now she was in love with someone else, and he was being sent into a possible arranged marriage.  
>He hadn't agreed to it at first, but his father continually reminded him of his duty as future chief, and the peace it would bring. And having had broken up with Astrid a few months ago, he thought it might as well be time he moved on. He turned to his father to find him asleep on his horse. He had wedged a bedroll in between his legs and wrapped his arms around it to act as a headrest. He sighed and turned back to the road, and to his surprise, found himself looking at a large castle on top of a hill.<p>

"Dad," he said, his father didn't budge. "DAD," still nothing. "Umm... Dragon raid!"

His dad's eyes jerked open, and he sat up straight. "Huh? What? Where!?" He looked around frantically, slowly realizing where he was. "Hiccup! Don't scare me like that!" He exclaimed. Looking forward his eyes fell on the castle. "Now there's a home!" He laughed.

Laughing, Hiccup looked to the sky to find his dragon. Catching a glimpse of him flying high above him just as he passed through the gates.

They were greeted joyfully by the king and queen, who were happy for them to be there, until toothless showed up. They were making small talk, and we're introducing themselves when the big dragon landed in the middle of courtyard. The Scots were surprised to say the least, and within seconds had bows, spears, and swords out, surrounding the beast.

"Don't shoot!" Hiccup yelled, he jumped onto the dragons back and pulled out his sword. The king and Queen stared at the sight of a man on a beast such as this.  
>"He's my pet," hiccup said, "and he won't harm you."<p>

"Lower your weapons!" The king called.

Hiccup dismounted, and walked to the king, who moved curiously toward the dragon. Toothless nudged against hiccup until he pet him.

"Hold out you hand," Hiccup said to the king.

The king did so, and toothless moved his head into the large mans hand. Fergus started laughing, and pet the dragon happily. He looked to Stoick.

"Yer people ride these?" He asked.

"Ay, they live with us too." Stoick smiled.

"If you don't mind," a voice said from behind Fergus, "but the others are waiting." The queen spoke confidently. "As I understand, you and Mogadon were the only two with eligible sons, correct?" She asked Stoick.

"Ay," he nodded.

Hiccup looked at Toothless, wishing he could get on and fly away, afraid of what was to come next.

The men began to follow the queen into the throne room. Hiccup hung back a little and made sure that toothless knew not to go anywhere, and the guards knew he ate fish. The throne room was large, but it was packed with both Viking tribes, and a few Scots apart from the king and queen.

The queen stood tall and held up a hand until the room quieted. "You should all know how this will proceed, but if you don't..."

Hiccup stood amongst the others of his tribe, and drowned out the queens speech. He found himself thinking of the same conversation that led him to this situation in the first place.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it took so long to add this chapter, had some problems with my computer.**

**Chapter 3**

Meridas POV

Merida sat with her back straight, but only because her mother made her. She constantly got stares from her mother that made her correct her behavior. She watched as a large man stepped forward, and in front of her father.

"I am Mogadon, Chief of the Meathead Tribe, I present my son, one of our strongest warriors. Thuggary." The man said. He gestured to a man who stepped forward out of the crowd. He was large, muscular, and walked with confidence.

Merida's father exchanged small talk with the two men about Thuggary, but Merida wasn't very interested. She was more focused on the smell that was drifting into the throne room from the kitchen. When she refocused, Mogadon and Thuggary were walking back to their group. She slouched a little, growing bored of the introductions. She watched as another man stepped in front of her father from the other side of the room.

"I am Stoick the Vast, Chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe," He said. "I present my son, heir of Hairy Hooligan Tribe, defeater of Red Death, and first rider of dragons… Hiccup."

Merida sat up straight as a man stepped out of the crowd. She immediately looked down, wondering why he limped. She saw the prosthetic leg, and noticed the sound the metal made of the stone floor. Her eyes drifted up from his leg, he wasn't very large, especially for a Viking, but he was muscular. He looked up at her just as she looked at his face. Their eyes met, but they both quickly looked away. Hiccup looked at Fergus and began talking to him as Thuggary had.

Elinor's POV

When Hiccup had stepped forward Elinor immediately noticed the change in Merida. She sat up, she made eye contact, and was now intently listening to the conversation Fergus was having with him. Elinor smiled, and watched her daughter. _This could be it_, she thought.

"You defeated a _dragon_?" Fergus asked.

"Yes," Hiccup replied, "I flew my dragon above him, and had him shoot fire into his mouth."

"yer dragon," Fergus said, "he listens to ya?"

Hiccup chuckled, "most of the time."

A servant walked into the room and nodded to Elinor. She stood, and the room quieted. "The food is ready," she said loudly, "If you will follow me." Fergus and Merida stood, and the three walked into the adjacent dining hall, followed by the Vikings.

Hiccups POV

The dining hall was very large, much like the mess hall back home, and several long tables were set up in the middle. Hiccup followed his father, and sat down next to him and Thuggary. He looked up to see the princess looking at him, but she quickly looked away when he smiled at her. Dinner was loud, and hiccup found the food very strange. He exchanged small talk Thuggary, but mostly just listened to the conversations around him. The princess and him made eye contact throughout the meal, but only for a few seconds here and there. Hiccup found himself wishing they were somewhere quiet, so that he could get to know the young woman sitting in front of him.

**Let me know what you think, and if I should keep adding to this story.**


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